Package manufacturers commonly print graphics on their products. Such graphics serve to identify the goods that will go inside the containers. Such manufacturers commonly use known printing processes which are capable of either: (1) imprinting low quality graphics on weather resistant packaging materials, such as using silk screen printing techniques to print on weather resistant vinyl materials, or (2) printing high quality graphics on packaging materials with little or no weather resistance, such as paper stock labels or directly onto cardboard fiber sheets. If a person desires to increase the weather resistance for existing high quality graphics packaging, they must use additional, costly steps to protect the high quality print, such as applying an overlaying, protective material over the printed graphics.
The main problem with these known printing processes involves the desire to place high quality graphics, logos, emblems, or pictures directly on weather resistant packaging materials, whereby the package itself has greater weather resistance qualities without using outer protective layers which add additional cost to the packaging. Until now, persons desiring printing graphics on packaging materials were either limited to low quality printing methods, forced to accept less weather resistant packaging or compelled to pay additional costs to add protective layers.
Thus there is a need to produce high quality, weather resistant graphics on packaged materials at low costs. Therefore, it is desired to have an economical and effective solution to imprint high quality graphics onto packaging materials which are also weather resistant.